[Air-l] Doctorow on Dealing With Trolls

[James Whyte]

"After much thought about the matter, I have come reluctantly to the conclusion that scientific truth, like juristic truth, must come about by controversy. Personally this view is abhorrent to me. It seems to mean that scientific truth must transcend the individual, that the best hope of science lies in its greatest minds being often brilliantly and determinedly wrong, but in opposition, with some third, eclectically minded, middle-of-the-road nonentity seizing the prize while the great fight for it, running off with it, and sticking it into a textbook for sophomores written from no point of view and in defense of nothing whatsoever. I hate this view, for it is not dramatic and it is not fair; and yet I believe that it is the verdict of the history of science." Boring, Edwin G. (1929). The psychology of controversy. Psychological Review, 36, 97-121. [Boring's 1928 APA Presidential Address about past controversy in psychology.] 
   
  79 years later history this statement is still relevent. I think Boring proposes the progress of scholarship is measured by people who are willing to challenge the status quo. 
   
  Where is the boundary between legitimate controversy and "Tolling"? Who is the arbiter of trolling vs controversy. Doctorow does not address these important distinctions.
   
  Perhaps the more dangerous persona is the scholar who thinks he is able to divine this boundary? Perhaps they are the true trolls?
   
  James
  

Alex Halavais <alex at halavais.net> wrote:
  Given a recent definitional discussion over the evolution of the
meaning of troll, I figured I would point folks to a column by Cory
Doctorow in Information Week entitled "How To Keep Hostile Jerks From
Taking Over Your Online Community." It begins:

"""
The Internet Tough Guy is a feature in all Internet social forums.
These are people who poison discussions with anger, hatred, and
threats. Some are malicious. Some are crazy. Some are just afflicted
with a rotten sense of humor. Whatever their motives, they're a
scourge. It takes precious little trolling to sour a message-board. A
"troll" -- someone who comes onto an online community looking to pick
fights -- has two victory conditions: Either everyone ends up talking
about him, or no one talks at all. And where two or more trolls
gather, they'll egg each other on, seeing who can anger and disrupt
the regular message-board posters the most.
"""

The rest is here (with apologies for the ads):

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199600005

It provides an interesting exploration of the art and science of
maintaining online discussion-based communities, and what to do with
the trolls, including employing a "troll whisperer."

Best,

Alex


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